The Playground Project

Every school needs a playground, an essential component of a child’s school experience. We are calling on our community to help transform our grass field into a safe, protected play environment for our students and neighborhood children.

Buy A Brick
Help build a safe place for our children to play, and become part of a legacy by purchasing a brick for your family, favorite teacher or staff member. Each sponsored brick will be placed as part of the walkway to the new playground. All proceeds raised go to fund the new playground. $250 for a 4×8 brick with inscription of 3 lines, up to 18 characters. 501(c)3 Tax ID 93-1009176

ContactInterested in other ways to contribute, or want to be involved in the project? Please contact Nici Griffith.

And our friends at:

Chapman Playground 2017/18 School YearBudget: $220,000Timeline: Order equipment May 2018, start construction July of 2018, open for 2018-19 school year

Proposal

The Chapman Elementary School Parent Teacher Association is actively seeking funding for construction of a long overdue playground on Chapman School property. Currently, the school has no playground equipment to speak of, aside from the use of public equipment at Wallace Park. We envision the children in our community enjoying a safe, accessible, and durable playground to engage their imaginations and playful spirits and provide them with a range of social and physical activities. It will be attractive, respectful of the neighbors, and an asset to our community as a whole. It will be environmentally friendly and fully accessible – and it will serve a critical need as our neighborhood grows.

Concept

Our vision is to create a playground where there is a grass field on the north side of the building, which would become a rubber-surfaced area with multiple play structures for ages 5-12. The replacement of grass with rubber will get rid of a soggy, muddy area that students are not able to use during rainy weather (most of the school year), and would create a well-drained, low-impact surface for group or individual play. The play structures will provide students with opportunities for gross motor activities, muscle development, improved hand-eye coordination, increased cooperative play and other physical and social development – including having fun! The site is buffered from the street on the north side of the school by an existing fence.

Safety & Requirements

The direct effect of a new playground for Chapman, located on PPS property, will be quickly and easily quantified at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. The current school year has new requirements for physical exercise set by the Oregon School Board – 60 additional minutes per week per student. Staff will be able to oversee students during recess in a safe and efficient manner that will create more physical activity time for each student. Staff will no longer have to deal with distractions and disruptions of recess due to pedestrians and animals utilizing the same play area as students. Staff will be better able to ensure the safety of students at recess by having a playground where only students, staff and approved volunteers are allowed during school hours. Students will have a play area free of mud – for individual or group play, gross motor, free play or make-believe play – that can be used every day throughout the school year.

The Wallace Park play structure is available only to Chapman’s younger students. Children in grades 4-5 are not allowed to use the Wallace Park equipment because it is too far from the area reserved for their recess – the teachers cannot see or hear the students well enough to ensure their safety. Consolidating the students’ play area on Chapman school property and allowing only Chapman students to use the playground during school hours will significantly increase the safety of every student.

Community Benefits

Not only will the playground benefit Chapman students and families, it will be a much-needed asset to the northwest community. The school’s catchment area is one of the largest for K-5 in the city of Portland. Additionally, Portland Public Schools has stated the relocation of Chapman kindergarteners to the Ramona Building is a temporary fix to the overcrowding of Chapman. The Chapman community is expecting the kindergarten students back at the main campus building within 2 years, adding around 100 additional students requiring play equipment on campus. The impact of the new playground will be felt for many years throughout the neighborhood as the growth of Slabtown and the Pearl District continue to make the existing parks overcrowded and unsafe for many children to use. The neighborhood children will utilize this new playground on weekends and after school hours.

Funding

This effort is beyond the budget that the Foundation and PTA can support, and we continue to be dedicated to funding our educational needs here at Chapman. We are actively seeking funding from large donor sponsorships, trusts and grants. If you have ideas for grants, or other funding means, please contact Nici Griffith.

Please help make this playground a reality for our students and our neighbors!